By Raïssa Robles

“Ikaw yata yung sumulat against Duterte noon.” (I think you were the one who wrote against Duterte in the past).

It was the first thing presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo blurted when I met him at the e-book launch of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the South China Sea last week.

Panelo was the last person I expected to bump into, and I was surprised to see him by his lonesome. Usually, cabinet officials are like magnets in many gatherings I’ve attended. They immediately attract a horde who buzz around them constantly.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a SocialistThen they came fof the Trade Unionists, and I did not out speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me— And there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)